Members of an American army combat platoon survey the situation from a watery rice paddy as they prepare to advance on a Viet Cong sniper position. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

June 28, 2013

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June 28

On this day. 1836: James Madison died. He was the fourth president, serving between 1809-17. Madison is known as "Father of the Constitution," because he was its principal author; in 1788, he wrote more than a third of the Federalist Papers, still the most influential commentary on the Constitution itself.

Madison helped bring the capital to what is now Washington, saying it needed to be secure after citizens attacked Congress in Philadelphia in 1783. But Washington wasn't secure. After vowing to defend "every inch" against the British in the War of 1812, Madison fled; the city was torched.

On this day. 1965: President Lyndon Johnson authorized the first U.S. ground combat forces in Vietnam. Within four years, there would be 538,000.

Quote of the day

"The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted." -James Madison